Sports Extra

A person familiar with the situation says four-time overall World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn underwent surgery on her right knee Sunday in Vail.

The person added that the procedure, “went well.”

Vonn tore her anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments last week when she crashed in the super-G at the world championships in Schladming , Austria. She also broke a bone in her lower leg.

Dr. William Sterett, a physician for the U.S. ski team, performed the surgery Sunday.

Soon after the crash, Vonn said she plans to be ready for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. She won the downhill at the Vancouver Games in 2010.

golf

Snedeker finally shifts from shotgun to driver’s seat

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Brandt Snedeker didn’t have to take a back seat to anyone at Pebble Beach.

A runner-up to Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson each of the last two weeks, Snedeker finished off a record performance Sunday with a 7-under 65 for a two-shot victory over Chris Kirk in the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Snedeker holed a 10-foot birdie on the 17th hole, then tapped in for par to finish at 19-under 267. That broke the tournament record by one shot held by Mickelson (2007) and Mark O’Meara (1997), who each had a 20-under 268 when Poppy Hills was still in the rotation.

The hottest player in golf, Snedeker finally has a trophy to show for it.

“Feels great to finish one,” he said. “The last two weeks, playing great but running into two Hall of Famers, really motivated me to go out and prove that I can handle the lead.”

He finished the tournament at 17-under 199 and became the 16th player to have a winning debut on the Champions Tour.

Mediate’s 4-foot birdie putt came after Tom Pernice Jr. missed a 5-footer at No. 18 that could have forced a playoff.

Mediate started the day with a three-shot lead and lost it by the 14th hole but regained it when Pernice bogeyed the par-4 17th from a greenside bunker. Mediate protected that lead with a birdie on the par-5 closing hole.

Tennis

U.S. eliminated in first round of Fed Cup by Italy

RIMINI, Italy – The United States was eliminated in the first round of the Fed Cup, losing to Italy 3-2 Sunday when Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci defeated Varvara Lepchenko and Liezel Huber in the decisive doubles match.

Errani and Vinci, the top-ranked doubles team, won 6-2, 6-2 against an understrength American team. The U.S. was without Serena and Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens because of injuries.

The U.S. led 2-1 after Lepchenko beat Errani 7-5, 6-2 in Sunday’s first reverse singles. But Vinci stopped Jamie Hampton 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 to set up the crucial doubles match for Errani and Vinci, who ended the best-of-five World Group series.

Nadal a runner-up in his return to the court

VINA DEL MAR, Chile – Rafael Nadal lost to Horacio Zeballos in three sets in the VTR Open final on Sunday, settling for a runner-up finish in his first tournament after being sidelined for seven months with a left knee injury.

Nadal was an overwhelming favorite, shooting for this 37th singles title on clay. But Zeballos won 6-7 (2), 7-6 (6), 6-4 for his first singles title on any surface, looking every bit the equal of the seven-time French Open champion.

It was only the fifth singles final that Nadal has lost on clay.

Zeballos matched Nadal shot for shot with no service breaks until the third set, dropping to his back after winning.